An interesting article from Salon about how America may be entering it’s “Fourth Republic.”

As I see it, to date there have been three American republics, each lasting 72 years (give or take a few years). The First Republic of the United States, assembled following the American Revolution, lasted from 1788 to 1860. The Second Republic, assembled following the Civil War and Reconstruction (that is, the Second American Revolution) lasted from 1860 to 1932. And the Third American Republic, assembled during the New Deal and the civil rights eras (the Third American Revolution), lasted from 1932 until 2004.

I don’t trust with this kind of history because a) it’s a bit glib, b) we don’t know what kind of president Obama is going to be (though I’d guess he’s going to be a pretty good one) and c) it’s really seductive.

I voted, dammit. I filled in the little bubble and in process, hopefully, help right an eight year wrong.

The line for my district, deep in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, was longer than I’ve ever seen, stretching a long city block. I actually enjoyed the hour or so wait it took, because I actually had the chance to meet some of people in my neighborhood. We talked about the massive Korean skyrise/shopping center that was getting built across the street, bus service, and the need for more public transportation.

Then this Korean-American kid, maybe 24, carrying a Bible started and kept shouting “Vote Yes on Proposition 8. Protect Marriage.” For those of you not in California, that the regressive, completely evil anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment. After about 20 minutes of this, a group of us shouted at him to shut up. It’s electioneering and illegal, not to mentioned completely annoying. Then he started praying loudly for our souls and for the banning of gay marriage. Finally, one girl grabbed an election volunteer who got the guy in charge of the polling station, a no-nonsense Indian guy, who told Korean preacher guy to zip it or he’ll call 911. Preacher tried to argue a little but eventually shut up.

And I voted no on Prop. 8 and yes on Barack Obama. And I’ve never been prouder to wear my “I Voted” sticker.

Christian loonies worship before the golden bull of Wall Street. Literally. Isn’t this the sort of thing that brought plagues of locust in the Bible? [h/t Ted]

Did you know that some Christian dingbat has dubbed today the “Day of Prayer for the World’s Economies?” Well here they are, at the Wall Street bull statue thing, praying to Jesus for money. The dingbat has explained, “We are going to intercede at the site of the statue of the bull on Wall Street to ask God to begin a shift from the bull and bear markets to what we feel will be the ‘Lion’s Market,’ or God’s control over the economic systems.” Don’t they know that God taking over the economic systems would be SOCIALISM from SPACE?

This story is amazing, highlighting just how recent our sins of slavery were and how monumental an Obama presidency would be.

Amanda Jones, 109, the daughter of a man born into slavery, has lived a life long enough to touch three centuries. And after voting consistently as a Democrat for 70 years, she has voted early for the country’s first black presidential nominee.

With so much talk in the news about nature disasters, I thought include some unnerving info about earthquakes in LA. Here’s a map of the San Andreas fault. And here’s a recent government study of what would happen if a Sichuan-sized earthquake hit Los Angeles. Here’s what to do in case of an earthquake.

The Scorsese remix of dramatic chipmunk. See the original here. Perhaps the best film of last year. (h/t Ted)

And then there’s this classic bit of police incompetence. Japanese custom officials slip a traveler 124 grams of hashish and then lose the guy.

And just in case there are some among the millions of daily readers of Witmot? who might believe some of the idiot lies floating about my man Obama, here’s a video.

Remember those mutterings last year about the mysterious NAFTA superhighway that was to run from Mexico to Cananda? It was largely dismissed by the mainstream media as a paranoid fantasy. Here’s a spirited critique of it on the House floor from someone who’s definitely not a crank, my former congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. Definitely worth watching. The gist: that Capitalist bastards are seeking to create a privately run 10 lane freeway from Mexican ports in the Pacific, through the heartland of the States to Canada. The result — a commercial artery from Asia to WalMart that bypasses union longshoremen and government oversight.